Bounce
by Krystal McKenna
Summary: Raven tries to question her emotions and aspects to find out why her powers aren't right. Could the answer be simpler than she thinks?
1. Happy

This might be the absolutely most pointless droubble in the history of flashfics.

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Raven was rapidly losing patience with her pink-clad emotion. Happy sat on a small rock, using a small shield of dark energy to ping a small rubber ball off the side of the gateway into her realm.

"Are you even listening?!" Raven burst out. Happy looked up, continuing to bounce the ball. "Huh?"

Raven pressed two fingers to her temple for a moment. "I thought as much..." she muttered.

Was the sound of that ball getting louder, or was that just her? Suddenly the ball was encased in dark energy and zipped through the air to Raven. Happy looked up in shock.

Raven bounced the ball in her palm. "Where did you get this thing, anyway?" Happy used her powers and pulled it back to her. She rolled it in her fingertips and considered it. "I dunno. I think it was behind a rock." Raven rolled her eyes and scowled. "Behind a-- That's it, I'm going to talk to Brave. Maybe SHE'LL actually listen."

"Awww, do you hafta go?" Raven just glared. "Okay, okay, I get it. Bye-bye!" said Happy. Raven shook her head and left Happy's realm. "I can't believe something so annoying is actually a part of me…"

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I told you it was pointless. Please review!


	2. Brave

At reader's request, I am continuing this story! Yay!

* * *

Raven entered Brave's realm and looked around. "Brave?" she called. "You here?" She really wasn't in the mood for Brave to sneak up on her, so she was extra cautious when she heard no reply.

"Brave?" Still no response.

"Where is she?" Raven said to herself. She stopped, listening for the sound of Brave training, but didn't hear anything.

"Well, I guess I'll have to do this the hard way," she muttered.

Eventually Raven found Brave. "There you are!" Raven exclaimed, sitting down beside the green cloaked emotion. "Never thought it would be so hard to find my way around my own mind." Brave just cocked an eyebrow at Raven, displaying an expression that clearly said "Yeah, whatever."

"Okay, I came because my powers have been acting up lately and I can't figure out why, except that it must be one of you guys." She paused. "So, I was wondering if anyone had been… acting oddly…" she slowed down, her eyes drawn to what Brave was doing. With her right hand, the emotion was bouncing a small rubber ball on her fingertips. Raven jumped up. "Not you too!" she exclaimed. Brave watched Raven's fleeing figure with a perplexed look.

"Okay…"

* * *

Whew, that one was tricky to fit into 200 words. Anyway, hope you liked this installment. Review if you liked it (or even if you didn't like it!). More will be on its way…eventually.

Okay, also, I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands with this story. I have absolutely no ideas for how to incorporate the ball in with Timid. Not a single idea. So I'm tossing it out to my readers, since it WAS your idea that I continue the story in the first place. -evil smile-


	3. Knowledge

Disclaimer: I know I've been kind of lazy on these things, but still, I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS.

Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I've been sick with this horrid cold for almost two weeks and it's led to writer's block that I just couldn't shift 'til now. Anyway, on to the story!!

* * *

After running for a few minutes, Raven finally noticed that she was safely out of Brave's realm. She looked around and instantly recognized that she was in Knowledge's part of her mind. She found Knowledge sitting at a desk, sorting through a pile of papers that never got any shorter, oddly. In front of the yellow cloaked doppelganger was a television screen that was rapidly flashing through images. Somehow Knowledge managed to sort the papers AND pay a fair amount of attention to the screen.

Raven walked up to the desk, and before she could open her mouth, Knowledge spoke.

"Hello, Raven," she said. Raven was not fazed by Knowledge's ability to focus on three things at once. "What brings you to my realm today?"

Suddenly a chair appeared behind Raven and she took a seat.

"Well," she began. "I've noticed my powers are a little out of whack lately, and I've been _trying _to talk to the other emotions-" Knowledge coughed pointedly "-Yes, I know you're not an emotion, you're an aspect. Anyway, I swear, this little rubber ball has been _following_ me, and it's made it impossible to carry on a decent conversation."

"Rubber ball?" interjected Knowledge. "Something like this?" She reached into a drawer of the desk, still sorting papers with her other hand and, from said drawer, extracted the offending toy. Raven stared at the piece of swirled green rubber for a moment before speaking.

"Where did you get _that?_" she asked.

"From Brave."

"What?! How did she beat me here?"

"She can teleport, remember?" Knowledge glanced at the ball for a fraction of a second and then tossed it over her shoulder. It bounced away, and Raven was still speechless. She shook her head, as if to restart her thinking process.

"Anyway, you seem busy anyway, so I'll just…" she trailed off and started walking away.

"Nice talking with you Raven. Come back anytime." Knowledge called after her, now sorting papers with both hands. "And I'm always busy!"

* * *

This one was far more than 200 words, but it was just flowing, and I think it would ruin it if I crammed in down to 200 words. So basically, I'm trashing the 200 words each idea. Anyway. Originally this was going to be Wisdom's chapter, but as I wrote it, it felt more like Knowledge. Besides, I'm still having trouble coming up with what Wisdom's realm should be like. And yes, I know I completely avoided the reason Raven's powers are on the fritz. You shall see.

Also, I actually own the rubber ball. Yep. It's based on one that is sitting upstairs somewhere.

One other thing: The winner of the 'contest' of what Timid will be doing with the rubber ball is… Churnok, with their second suggestion of her drawing a face on the ball and be apologizing to it. That one just cracked me up. It's perfect!

Review? Maybe?

EDIT: After reading GeekGirl2's review, I noticed my mistake on the color of Knowledge's cloak. So I just fixed that. :)


	4. Timid

Ack, it's been almost a month since I updated. I realized that last night, and started feeling guilty. Apparently guilt is a very good writer's block repellent, because about five minutes later I churned another chapter out.

Okay, before I move on to the story, I have another thing to ask of my readers. Wisdom's chapter is next, and I need some ideas of what her realm might look like.

Now, onward we go!

Disclaimer: Do not own.

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After carefully sidestepping both the realms of Rude and Rage, Raven found herself in the bleakly usual part of her mind that was Timid's portion. She quickly scanned the area for any sign of Timid, and finding none, decided that all she could do was head into the maze without a guide.

As she wandered around rather aimlessly, she grew aware of the fact that she was… well, lost.

"This is ridiculous. It's my own mind, I should be able to do this," she muttered.

She rounded another corner only to be met with a crossroads. "Oh boy, what do I do now?" She looked down each possible path, but they all turned too quickly for her to get any idea of which would be best. Then, a sound caught her ear from one path. It was Timid; she knew that much from the softness of the speech. Unable to make out what was being said, Raven followed the sound.

As she came to what she found to be a dead end, she was met with a rather odd scene. Timid was seated on the ground, in front of a rock on which that rubber ball was balanced. Drawn upon the surface of the toy was a comical pair of eyes and a smile. Now taking time to listen to what the grey-cloaked girl was saying, Raven pressed a hand to her mouth in amusement.

"And then there was the time that I yelled at Starfire. I mean, really it was all Rage's fault, but I'm still sorry about that, and—" Cutting her off here, Raven coughed slightly. Timid turned quickly, eyes wide. "Oh, Raven, it's only you."

"So, apologizing to a toy, huh?" Raven asked in her usual sarcastic manner. Timid's shoulders hunched as she attempted to make herself look smaller. "Y-yeah, I guess so…" The pitiful display made even Raven's heart soften – ever so slightly.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," she said. "I just need you to get me out of here."

"Why—why were you here, anyway?" asked Timid, as they started moving.

Raven let out a sarcastic laugh. "Actually, that rubber ball," she said, pointing to it in Timid's hand. "I sensed when it showed up, and shortly thereafter my powers started acting up, so I came here to find out what was going on. Not that it did any good. I talked to Happy, Brave _and _Knowledge, and none of them were of any help."

Timid stopped walking. "You only spoke to them? I mean, them, plus me?" Raven nodded slowly. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I just think that you might want to talk to the others before you leave." Raven looked at her curiously. "You think they'd actually be of help?" There was a pause. "Well, maybe not Rage," said Timid finally. "But—but Wisdom might know something."

Raven considered for a moment. "Well, I guess you could be right… In that case, I guess I need you to get me back to the start of the maze instead." Timid offered a tiny smile. "I- I kind of figured you'd want me to do that…" She gestured to her left and Raven found that, indeed, they were at the beginning of the maze. "Oh."

As Raven made her way deeper into her mind again, Timid opened a small black portal and dropped the rubber ball in. "Well, that went better than I thought it would… I think…"


	5. Wisdom

AN: I'm not dead! Just lazy. XP Finally, finally, here's chapter five!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans; I just like to toy with them a little. :D

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Raven stepped through another arch and this time her surroundings changed to those that marked Wisdom's realm. At first, there was no sign of her brown cloaked aspect, but Wisdom made herself known as Raven took another step.

"_Salvē,_" a voice said from an undeterminable location. Raven gritted her teeth, realizing that she had forgotten how fond Wisdom was of using Latin.

"_Heus,_" Raven returned.

"_Te adiuvāre possum?_" Wisdom asked, stepping into view.

Raven faltered, realizing that she didn't know how to put across the fact that there was a mysterious rubber ball that seemed to be following her. Last she checked, "Superball" didn't come from a Latin root.

"Ah, Raven, you're slipping," Wisdom said, switching to English.

Raven smirked. "That may be so; I don't often use Latin outside of your realm."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I was hoping you could help me figure something out. My powers haven't been quite the same lately, so my first reaction was to come here. No one has been any help. They've all been preoccupied with this rubber ball that keeps turning up everywhere." Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, but that was beside the point.

"A rubber ball, you say? Oh yes, I know what you are referring to." Wisdom gestured for Raven to follow her. "This way."

Raven followed Wisdom further into her realm, observing the intricate carvings of various animals that served as decorations. "Is this one new?" Raven asked, gesturing to the full scale replica of a crane. Wisdom seemed rather lost in thought, and Raven didn't get a response.

Eventually the two nearly identical girls reached the center of Wisdom's realm and there they found a stand like that on which a large dictionary might be found. The book that rested on it, however, was certainly not a dictionary. Wisdom reached for the thick volume and opened it. The pages appeared to be blank.

A short burst of dark energy flew from Wisdom's fingers and struck the book. Only a few seconds passed before it took effect, and the text appeared. Raven looked on from a stride's length. She didn't have to ask what this was; she already knew that it contained all of Wisdom's… well, wisdom.

Wisdom rapidly read the pages before her. "Hmm, not here. Must need to go further…" Another zap of dark energy caused the writing to change. "Ah, here we go."

Raven tipped forward slightly to see the page better. Just as both she and Wisdom got to the portion that seemed to reveal the answer, the words began to blend together as if the ink was running. Shortly the words all but disappeared, and suddenly the book closed with a snap.

"What does that mean?" asked Raven in shock. She'd never seen that before.

"My, my," fretted Wisdom. "That only happens when a piece of information falls under the jurisdiction of---Raven, you've talked to everyone else, correct?"

"Well, not Rude or Rage, but—"

"I thought as much. I understand why you avoided those two. I feel, though, that you may have missed someone."

"'Missed someone'?" mimicked Raven. "But who—"

"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out, but right now I really must confer with Knowledge." Raven had the distinct feeling that she was being kicked out as Wisdom made a portal to another realm appear close to where she stood. Even so, Raven started to walk through the arch when she was stopped again by Wisdom. "Oh, Raven, remember; _Fiat justitia, ruat coelum._"

Raven nodded, even though she wasn't sure what that piece of advice had to do with anything.

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AN: For those that don't know, the Latin phrases I used mean, roughly, in order of use:

_Salvē_ – Welcome

_Heus_ – Hello/Hi

_Te __adiuvāre__ possum?_ – Can I help you?

_Fiat __justitia__, __ruat __coelum__._ - Do the right thing even if the heavens fall

Oh yes, and the Crane, as is my understanding, is a Chinese representation of wisdom.


	6. Revelation

Whoo! Two chapters in less than a week. Are you amazed? I am.

You may have noticed that I don't have the emotion listed as the chapter name this time. You'll just have to find out.

Disclaimer: The Titans and Raven's emotions aren't mine. I just write about them.

* * *

Raven walked slowly across her mindscape, trying to think of who she could have possibly missed. Wisdom had cut herself off mid-sentence when she was talking about this other emotion. 'Only if it falls under the jurisdiction of…' Of who? Knowledge was Wisdom's direct counterpart and co-worker, but it couldn't be Knowledge because Raven had already spoken to her.

Raven began to run through the list of her emotions. "Timid, Brave, Happy," she listed, ticking them off on her fingers as she walked. "Wisdom, Knowledge, Rude, Ra—" She stopped, looking at the arch she was about to pass through.

"Why don't I remember this one?" she questioned softly.

After a moment of just standing there, she nodded to herself and walked through the gateway. Her surroundings shimmered and changed. When the transformation was complete, Raven started at what she saw. It looked like Happy's realm, but it wasn't quite the same. There was less pink (much to Raven's satisfaction) and more lavender and soft red.

Directly ahead, there stood a tall and wide branching tree. Not far from the edge of the shade cast by the tree there was a lake of shimmering violet water. Raven rubbed her eyes. She couldn't believe that there was a section of her mind she didn't recognize. She took a few cautious steps and paused again.

She looked around and saw nothing and no one. No other trees, even. She continued to walk, and as she got closer to the tree and lake, she thought she heard humming; soft, delicate humming. Again Raven questioned that this was still her mind. She looked closer at the trunk of the tree and saw a figure sitting at the base.

She strode more determinedly towards this figure, and soon saw that it was another of her emotions. The shade of the tree threw the color of this emotions cloak off, making it look pink. "Happy?"

The emotion didn't look up from the tea rose she was twirling between her fingers. "Hello, Raven. I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm not Happy." From the first word, Raven knew it wasn't Happy. It was too feminine and gentle. Raven tentatively took a step into the shade of the tree. Satisfied that there wasn't a trap hidden there somewhere, she quickly completed the distance between her and the mysterious emotion.

"If you aren't Happy, then who are you?" asked Raven. She sank into the soft grass, pulling her feet under her to sit cross-legged. The emotion's hood was up and her head was tilted down so not a bit of her expression could be seen.

"You don't remember me?"

Raven looked at her curiously. "No…" she said slowly. "Should I?"

The emotion looked up and raised a hand to pull back her hood. Before doing so, though, she spoke. "I'm not surprised. I've been waiting here, dormant, for quite some time. I was only awakened through a chance happening." Her hand lowered to the rose she held. She touched the petals of the flower gently and they opened further, revealing the rubber ball. Raven's breath caught in her chest. What kind of emotion would be awakened by a rubber ball?

The emotion that sat beside her held the child's toy out to Raven, who took it gingerly. After a moment's pause, the emotion reached up once more and flipped back her hood. She looked Raven in the eye and finally spoke. "I am known as Affection."

With those words, long forgotten memories flooded back to Raven. She now remembered a time when Affection was active in her life. When she was still in Azarath; still with her mother. She was so caught up in the rush of returning memories that she did not notice Affection standing and walking away. When she finally reconnected with what was going on, Raven jumped to her feet and spun around to find Affection.

After locating the purple cloaked emotion (the color was evident now that she was no longer in the shade) by the shore of the lake, Raven approached carefully. She opened her mouth to speak, but Affection spoke first.

"You know, there's another facet to my being," she said softly. Raven stepped up next to her, finding that Affection had once again pulled up her hood and sheltered her eyes from view.

"Another… facet?" asked Raven. Affection nodded slightly.

"It's Love, Raven," she said. Raven went to speak again, but Affection stopped her again. "I know what you're thinking. Love and Affection is almost the same thing, true, but this kind of love is not the kind a child might have for a parent. It's the kind of love that one would feel for…" she paused, as though unsure how to word what she was trying to put across.

Raven nodded. "I understand. But why would a simple child's toy awaken the feeling of Affection, let alone Love?"

Still looking away from Raven, Affection replied, "I think you'll have to figure that out for yourself."

"Can you at least tell me where this thing came from?" Raven asked, studying the item she held.

"I believe it came from one whom you truly care about, even if you don't think so. Perhaps the one whom you call Beast Boy?" Raven could've sworn there was a touch of smugness to that statement. She didn't mention it; instead she began to back away.

"What? But…but that's impossible. That… no!" she exclaimed, fleeing from Affection's realm. Under her cloak, Affection raised a hand to her chest, pressing against her heart as if in pain. A single crystal tear fell from her eye and into the lake, which only shimmered all the more.

* * *

Ack, how did that become a sad chapter? Oh well. Reviews are appreciated, as always.

Also, I don't know if anyone (reads this) has noticed, but I have a relatively new poll on my profile, as well.

EDIT: Small re-wording after an issue was pointed out via review.


	7. Understanding

MAJOR EDIT: Good grief. Upon re-reading the story, and reading the reviews I've already received, I realized that I have a lot of mistakes. I shouldn't have posted this story right away after writing it at 2 in the morning. Ouch. Mistake fixing time! Ah, the power of edits.

Well, here we are. The final chapter. Thanks to everyone that's been with me along the way, reading and reviewing. I had a lot of fun writing this one. (Special thanks goes to Churnok, who was practically my post-publish proofreader for the entire story.)

I've had four votes in the poll thus far, leaving me with a tie between the two stories, so I'm going to leave it for another week and if I get another vote that breaks the tie, so be it. If not, the week will give me time to figure out another way to decide.

Enjoy the final chapter of _Bounce._

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this story. And the rubber ball.

* * *

Raven landed in a roll and flipped up onto her feet when the spectral hand dropped her to the floor – her exit from her mindscape. She blushed slightly as she relaxed out of the fighting stance she had taken out of habit.

Realizing that she was still holding it, she rolled the rubber ball from her palm into her fingertips.

"Beast Boy, hmm?" she said to herself. "I guess the only way to be sure is to ask him." Decided, she walked to the door and it slid open to find Beast Boy standing there. The look on his face was one of a small child about to confess something.

Beast Boy looked up in shock. "R-Raven!" he exclaimed. He began gesturing wildly as he attempted to explain himself. "Um, I was just… see, I – today – I was – the door was _open_ and then it went – and I just… but then! And I didn't mean – but then the claw! And I-I-I-I…" He trailed off, a hopeless look on his face.

"I'm going to assume that was some form of explanation for this," Raven said, holding up the rubber ball. Beast Boy stared at it.

"…Yeah," he said finally. "I'm sorry, Raven! It was an accident, I swear! I was bouncing it in the hall, and then your door came up and it was open and the ball bounced in and it stopped on your mirror and then the claw grabbed it and I knew I couldn't go in your room again – not after what happened last time_ –_ so I just thought I'd leave it. But then I thought '_what if she figures out that it was me?!_' And then I remembered what happened with Starfire and that prank and… are you smiling?"

Sure enough, a small amused smile had crept over Raven's face. Eyebrows raised, she just looked at Beast Boy blankly.

"Let me get this straight," she said after a moment. "You didn't actually go _in _my room?" Beast Boy shook his head exaggeratedly. "And it was all an accident?" Beast Boy nodded enthusiastically. "Alright then. I don't see any problem. Here, take the stupid thing." She dropped the green piece of plastic into Beast Boy's hand. "Azar knows it's caused me enough trouble already."

"So you mean... you're not mad?"

"Nope," Raven said.

"But... really?"

"Really." She reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder in a reassuring gesture before stepping around him and starting to walk away.

Beast Boy stood there, dumbfounded for a moment. Then his thought process started again. "Wait, Raven!" he called, running to catch up.

* * *

Wow. It's finished! I never thought I'd see the day. I had so much fun writing Beast Boy's ranting for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this and all the other chapters! I know I loved writing them.

Review?  
Maybe?

Quick anonymous review reply: To 'critique' - I'm a little confused, what questions specifically do you mean? After all, in life not all questions _get _answers in the long run.


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